CONFIDENTIAL.

Chapter 4.

The Elite Program sucked.

I missed my friends.

I missed Cole and Violet with the genius talk and big words.

I missed Kylie and Levi with their fun spirits and joyful attitudes.

I missed Brennan. I missed the sparring. I missed waiting for him to hold a gun to my head. I missed the bet. I never found out what had been required or what he lost when I left.

I missed seeing everyone around the table.

Everyone eating breakfast and going over the itinerary for the day.

I missed it all.

I punched the bag. I punched it again.

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

I sighed, my heart beating fast. I grabbed my water bottle and took a long drink, before looking at my knuckles. I rewrapped my bruised fingers. I watched my old crew from the overhead Elite training center.

My eyes looked over at the floor, as I saw Violet spar with Cole.

Levi and Kylie work out in the gym area.

Brennan spotting Levi.

I frowned. Levi had never been the fighting type.

I sighed, standing up. I got into stance and hit the punching bag again, and again, and again.

"You can't punch your problems away." Said the trainer behind me.

"Try me." I responded. He nodded. He swung his fist at me. I ducked.

One.

Two.

One swift kick and he flew out of the large open window.

I winced as he hit the ground. Brennan took a hit as he glanced down at the man who had landed in front of them. I sighed.

I grabbed the knife out of my boot and walked to the window sill. I stabbed the wall and slid down until I was six feet from the ground. I kicked off and landed next to him.

"You could have made that." I grunted, giving him my hand. He grabbed it and began pulling. I flipped as I realized he was planning on attacking me here too. He launched himself up and aimed to hit me. I ducked and kicked out his leg. I grinned at Levi.

I could hear the trainer get up on the squishy map and a sound like a knife being drawn out of the holster. Quickly, I started sprinting and kicked up on the wall. I jumped, bouncing up three feet up the wall. I flipped behind the trainer, kicking out his legs, catching the knife and holding it to his throat.

I hear an applause from behind me.

I rolled my eyes and walked away.

"See what I mean dear? You're so very talented." Stephen said.

"I truly think I made the right choice putting you in the Elite Program. Your teammates were only holding you back. Now-"He gestured at me.

"-Look at yourself, full of potential and ten times better than you were with your friends." I gritted my teeth.

"And as you can see, my teammates are standing over there. Say another ill thing about them and I sock you in the face."

Stephen tssked at me.

"You do that and you're out of the Elite Program."

"Fine by me. It was your idea anyway. I never even applied for the damn program."